. >> reporter: in the next election, democratic candidate michael dukakis is asked this controversial question in his debate with vice president george bush. >> governor, if kitty dukakis were raped and murdered, would you favor an irrevocable death penalty for the killer? >> no, i don't, bernard, i think you know i oppose the death penalty during all of my life. >> reporter: the public sees his answer as cold and dispassionate. and that very night his poll numbers dropped. during the 1988 vice presidential debate, republican senator dan quayle's comparison of john f. kennedy elicits this blistering response from his opponent. >> senator, you're no jack kennedy. >> reporter: body language plays a part in the presidential debate in 1992, george h.w. bush deliberately looks at his watch and pays for it when the audience and voters see it as disrespectful. >> there are differences. >> reporter: body language makes a difference in a debate between al gore and george w. bush as well. gore sighs over and over again and bush surprises by winning the debate and the election. both president ob